Provence to Pondicherry: Recipes from France and Faraway

In her 10th cookbook, Kiros connects culinary traditions of four former French colonies—Guadeloupe, Vietnam, the Pondicherry territory of India, and the island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean—along with chapters on Provence and Normandy. The conceit is clever and draws a thread between far-flung places. In Provence mussels are cooked with tomato and pistou. In Guadeloupe they are served with breadfruit “french fries.” They are married with chili and lemongrass in Vietnam, with masala in Pondicherry, and with combava (aka kaffir lime) and cream in La Réunion. They are paired with cider in Normandy. French technique ingeniously combines with local ingredients, including in a crepe-like potato dosa; Vietnamese bo bit tete; and steak frites with a spicy, sweet-sour marinade. The book’s design is lovely, with each location covered by an introduction and notes on local flavors, climate, and customs. Provence is evoked by “closed shutters, sun shining through the leaves of the plane trees... pastis glasses scattered on bar tops.” Occasionally, however, Kiros romanticizes colonial life: at least some of those “workers for the plantations brought in from Africa, India, and China” to La Réunion would more accurately be termed “slaves.” (Mar.)